Plight of Jews in Poland, Hungary, Germany, Austria Described by J.D.C. Director

December 5, 1945

Paris (Dec. 4)

The plight of the Jews in Poland, Hungary, Austria and in the displaced persons camps in Germany was described here today at a press conference by Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European director of the Joint Distribution Committee, who has just returned from an inspection trip to those countries and who is en route to the United States to address the annual J.D.C. conference in New York on Sunday.

Dr. Schwartz estimated that at least $50,000,000 will be required in 1946 to give aid to needy Jews in various European countries. He said that there are no more than 80,000 Jews in Poland and that 70,000 of them require relief. Anti-Semitism is still rampant in Poland, he reported. Most of the Jews there are scattered and the only large concentration of Jews is in Lodz where there are about 25,000.

In Hungary, Dr. Schwartz stated, the Jews suffer from an acute shortage of food, clothing and fuel. In the camps for displaced persons in Germany, he said, there are about 30,000 Jews who have no overcoats despite the severe winter. Altogether there are still about 100,000 displaced Jews in the camps as well as in the UNRRA settlements. Since the publication of the Harrison report, criticising conditions in the camps, there has been some improvement, chiefly in Austria and in Italy, but the camps are still overcrowded because of the hundreds of Jews who are crossing into the American zone from the parts of Germany held by the Russians as well as from Poland and Hungary, Dr. Schwartz concluded.